Installation of a Virtualization Environment
First Claim
1. A system comprising:
- a client, said client comprising;
a display device;
a host operating system (OS);
an electronic programming guide (EPG) launched by a plurality of boot files stored in said host OS, wherein launching of said EPG suspends said host OS, said EPG comprising;
a user interface (UI) that is presented to said user on said display, said EPG UI comprising at least one icon, said icon comprising a graphical representation of a virtual appliance;
an appliance environment comprising a virtual environment OS for accessing and launching said virtual appliance in response to a selection of said at least one icon on said EPG UI;
a download component for providing any of a plurality of said virtual appliances and a plurality of virtualization environment installation files in response to a request by said client; and
an installation component for storing compatibility information about hardware and device drivers that are required for running said EPG, said appliance environment, and said virtual appliance and for suspending said host OS.
2 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention provides a method and apparatus for downloading a Virtualization Environment comprising an electronic programming guide (EPG) and an appliance environment onto a client. The EPG is launched from boot files stored in the hard disk or other boot media. The EPG comprises a user interface (UI) that is displayed to the user. The EPG UI comprises a plurality of icons that are graphical representations of virtual appliances. The EPG UI can also include a search entry field. A user can enter text into the search entry field and launch a search engine to obtain search results. The virtual appliances can be stored locally, for example on a hard drive or peripheral device, or they can be stored on a download server. The download server also contains the virtualization environment installer. An installation server scans the client to determine if the client contains the proper hardware and drivers for running the virtualization environment. A persistent storage server can store a user'"'"'s personal information.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
a client, said client comprising; a display device; a host operating system (OS); an electronic programming guide (EPG) launched by a plurality of boot files stored in said host OS, wherein launching of said EPG suspends said host OS, said EPG comprising; a user interface (UI) that is presented to said user on said display, said EPG UI comprising at least one icon, said icon comprising a graphical representation of a virtual appliance; an appliance environment comprising a virtual environment OS for accessing and launching said virtual appliance in response to a selection of said at least one icon on said EPG UI; a download component for providing any of a plurality of said virtual appliances and a plurality of virtualization environment installation files in response to a request by said client; and an installation component for storing compatibility information about hardware and device drivers that are required for running said EPG, said appliance environment, and said virtual appliance and for suspending said host OS. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A computer implemented method for installing a virtualization environment on a client, comprising the steps of:
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locating a virtualization environment installer for installing said virtualization environment, said virtualization environment comprising an electronic programming guide (EPG) for suspending a host operating system (OS) once a plurality of boot files for said EPG are launched and for displaying a plurality of icons on a user interface to a user, said icons representing at least one virtual appliance, and an appliance environment for launching said at least one virtual appliance using a virtualization environment OS; running a hardware scanner on said client to obtain a list of said client'"'"'s hardware and drivers to determine if said client'"'"'s hardware and drivers are compatible with said virtualization environment program; logging into an installation server; uploading said hardware and driver information to said installation server; said installation server determining whether said client comprises hardware and drivers that are compatible with said virtualization environment; downloading a set of drivers that are compatible with said client hardware to said client if said client requires said drivers; downloading a virtualization environment installer to said client; saving said plurality of virtualization environment boot files to said host OS; and updating said installation server with installation information. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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10. A computer readable storage medium comprising computer executable instructions, the instructions when executed causing an application to perform the steps of:
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loading a plurality of virtualization environment bootloader files into a memory, said plurality of bootloader files stored on a host operating system (OS); running a virtualization environment bootloader code; launching an electronic programming guide (EPG), said EPG suspending said host OS; displaying an EPG user interface (UI) to a user, said EPG UI comprising at least one icon, said at least one icon comprising a graphical representation of at least one virtual appliance; upon selection of said at least one icon, booting a virtualization environment OS; passing a name of said virtual appliance to said virtualization environment OS; and said virtualization environment OS launching said virtual appliance. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification